


tumblr fic prompts round 1

by catpoop



Series: Tumblr Dot Hell [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Catboy! Shiro, Keith ... loves his explosives that boy, Kotatsu, M/M, Nightmares, Pets, Pining Keith (Voltron), S3 content, angsty keith, crack!fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-26 07:31:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 4,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12054243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catpoop/pseuds/catpoop
Summary: a compilation of the fics prompts ive replied to on tumblr1. Catboy!Shiro, petting, soft fluffy times2. Pining Keith: thinks Shiro is flirting with Allura (BOM!Keith, cultural misunderstandings)3. Keith x explosives, the only pairing that matters4. Keith listens to Shiro's captain logs (Post S2)5. Keith finds a space-cat! Shiro is ... wary6. Shiro craves doritos. crack7. Keith listens toKuron'sship logs8. Shiro buys a space kotatsu9. time to go to the SPACE MALL10. shiro has a nightmare





	1. catboi shirooooooooooooooo

**Author's Note:**

> want to request a fic? feel free to send an ask at my tumblr: swummeng-geys.tumblr.com

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: if you still want fic prompts how about some sheith with catboy shiro? maybe shiro is stressed and keith helps him to relax by petting and cuddling him :3

“Come here,” Keith pats the spot beside him, “I know you’re stressed out.”

Fangs bared and ears flattened (Keith rolls his eyes), Shiro snarls at him. “I’m not stressed out. Takes more than an alien spaceship, an alien war, a prosthetic arm, and a pair of stupid ears to stress me out.”

 _And a tail,_ Keith silently adds, watching the fluffy black appendage bristle behind Shiro. No one is entirely sure what happened, just that Shiro left for Kerberos human and returned – changed. Shiro himself admits he can’t remember, but hopefully the aliens onboard will solve the mystery.

So far, Keith’s learnt that the ears move to reflect Shiro’s mood, and his tail similarly. He makes a placating face. “C’mere. Stop thinking too hard for one second.”

Shiro pauses in pacing around the room and, after a bit of thought, begrudgingly sits beside Keith. Keith violently wrestles him into his lap the moment he feels the mattress depress. 

“Now stay.” 

Shiro glares up at him.

“Good kitty.” With a languid sigh, Keith reaches for his sensitive ears and Shiro has little time to wince before fingertips are rubbing against his scalp and, more importantly, the curved shells of his new ears. He’s never been one to complain about a good head-rub, but _this -_

_Holy shit._

Unable to keep up his irritate façade, Shiro slumps against Keith’s solid thighs, eyes shuttering as he feels a chuckle from above him. Maybe Keith has magic fingers, or he’s just seriously stressed out. Shiro’s pretty sure his mouth is slightly ajar, but he can’t find it in himself to stop from melting into a puddle of blissed-out cat-human.

“See,” Keith murmurs, “Next time you’re on the verge of collapse, I’ll just give your ears a good yank or two.”

Shiro hums in assent.

Keith watches fondly as Shiro quickly falls into a state of near-unconsciousness, nudging at his hand for more whenever he tries to give his tired fingers a break.

“Okay, okay – no need to be impatient.”

“Mrr…”

Keith quirks an amused brow. He’ll definitely have to ask Shiro about that later, when he’s in a more communicative mood. But for now, there’s a clingy grown man to deal with. 

And a quickly-numbing thigh. Frowning, Keith retracts his fingers, ignoring Shiro’s noise of discontent. “Just gotta shift you, big man.”

“Hmm.”

Shiro is entirely uncooperative as Keith lugs him further up the bed, noting in dismay that that leaves little space for him. The castle could do with bigger beds. Well, it’s the first proper bed he’s slept on in a year, so he tucks himself against Shiro’s side without complaint and reaches a hand up to continue his ministrations.

Shiro rumbles in delight.

“You’re going to smother me,” Keith mutters, trying to find it in himself to be annoyed at the way Shiro is melting into his side. There’s no response.


	2. keith is angst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: Can you do pining keith after he thinks shiro is flirting with allura 

The first time Keith notices, he brushes it off as coincidence. The second time, it feels like the ground’s being wrenched out from under him.

See, Keith thinks himself plenty observant. He might not be as strong as his Galran peers, or have as keen a nose, but he can see well. He can spot a camouflaged enemy from five hundred _dena_ away where the others just see rubble, and he was first to see the similarities between himself and the Voltron paladins.

And, it seems, he’s the only one noticing Shiro and Allura’s … _interactions_. Keith digs sharp nails into his thigh with a growl. Ever since Pidge handed him a patchily-translated guidebook on Terran customs, he’s observed the patterns everywhere.

The first of many: eating habits. He watches, tense on the edge of his seat, as Shiro passes Allura a plate of Terran-style _giluyo_ (a little too soft to be palatable, Keith thinks) from the centre of the table. She accepts with a gracious smile, one that Shiro returns. Keith narrows his eyes.

From his studious perusal of the Terran texts, he knows food is central to their mating rituals. So it had come as a surprise when Shiro made a habit of handing him something to eat after their weekly sparring sessions.

“I like carrying these ration bars with me,” Shiro had explained when asked, “Because sometimes I forget to eat.”

Ration bar or not, Keith had savoured every bite of it while nervously glancing at Shiro out of the corner of his eye.

 _Anyway,_ he thinks, returning to the present and fiddling with the _giluyo_ on his own plate, _this is different, because Shiro passed the food on Allura’s command._

And then the second of many, too many: reddening cheeks. Shiro’s face is a pale shade, _usually._ His cheeks darken whenever Keith gruffly compliments his sparring, something that he takes quiet pride in. So to see him ‘blush’ (Keith recalls from the guidebook) outside of their conversations takes him by surprise. 

Maybe he wasn’t supposed to see, but it’s not Keith’s fault the vents are so easily accessible. Crawling up inside them reminds him of his younger years, of playing seek-and-run with his peers or escaping Kolivan’s lectures. It’s during a particularly bad bout of homesickness that he curls up in one of the larger ceiling spaces, nose pressed to the grille to stare down at the empty common room.

He’s been in there for an hour when Shiro ambles inside, humming a tune. With a wide yawn, he settles on one of the couches, lying down and holding a tablet above his nose. Keith has half a mind to leap down there and join him, but his current position’s just too comfortable. He watches through lidded eyes as Shiro nearly drops the tablet on his face, then rolls over, legs hanging off the edge of the couch.

That’s how Allura discovers him when she walks in. 

Keith snorts as Shiro lets out a mangled screech, scrambling to sit upright and properly listen to what the Princess has to say. But the grin falls quickly off his face when he notices the red flush on Shiro’s cheeks. A ‘blush’. And directed right at Allura.

The redness doesn’t disappear until after Allura has left the room, long enough for Keith to come to his grim conclusion. Shiro’s clearly got his eyes on someone else.


	3. bombs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: Shiro learns the details of his rescue (s1e1) and starts to realized that some of Keith's particular habits might be because he's half-Galra, like how the Galra (and Keith) tend to realllllllllly like explosions.
> 
> i hit like 10% of this prompt but. hope yall enjoy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bombs?  
> bombs.

Shiro walks in on a heated argument between Keith and Pidge. Strange as _that_ is, the first thing he notices is the black char on the workbench that’s still giving off smoke.

“You guys okay in here?” He tentatively asks. Pidge was working on a cloaking program that could be adapted to all the lions, but it doesn’t look to be going too well. 

Pidge pauses in her shouting to glance at him. “Yeah. Sure. Just – can you tell Keith to leave? He keeps blowing everything up.”

Keith doesn’t look too happy, but neither does he complain when Shiro offers to walk him outside. He gives the smoking pile one last disappointed look before exiting the lab.

“What was that about?” Shiro asks once they’ve left Pidge to her business.

Keith groans. “I was just trying to help her. Not my fault that stuff’s so easy to blow up …”

“Did you tell Pidge that? You guys didn’t need to argue.”

Keith rolls his eyes and says nothing. Shiro grimaces. _A work in progress,_ he thinks. They divert the afternoon into a spontaneous bout of sparring before finally returning to the common room, where the others are chatting. Keith sulks when they see Pidge.

“Hey, Pidge,” Shiro asks out of politeness, but also curiosity, “How’d your project go?”

“Oh. It worked, I’ll show you guys later.” She directs a lopsided smile at Keith. “He blew up the malfunctioning prototype, so it’s fine, actually.”

Keith replies with a gruff, “Okay.”

“See, knew we can trust our Mullet with nicely-timed explosions,” Lance chimes in, leering at Keith. Shiro hurriedly holds him back before the two start tussling like wild dogs.

“Explosions, plural?” He raises an eyebrow. Keith doesn’t say a thing, and Shiro has to wonder if the teen’s been letting off secret explosives in his bedroom or something.

“Oh, y’know, y’know – back when I, _we_ rescued you?” Lance looks at him expectantly. “Well, I was planning on breaking in single-handed, but Keith beat me to it. By planting some bombs. I’m not sure if that’s even legal,” he shoots Keith a nasty look before continuing, “but, I mean, we got our main man out in the end, right?”

“T-Thanks,” Shiro manages. He’ll have to ask Keith about _that_ later.

“It wasn’t bombs!” Keith snaps, “Just … fuel.”

“Uhuh?” Lance doesn’t look impressed. “Whatever. Still not trusting you around anything explode-y.”

“That’s not a word,” Pidge mutters from the sidelines, and both Keith and Shiro breathe a sigh of relief when Lance runs off to snap at her.

“So. A fascination with explosives?” Shiro watches Keith fidget.

“Not really …” Keith scratches his head, “They’re just useful. Mm.” He audibly shuts his mouth, visibly willing the conversation to end.

“Uhuh? Where did you even find explosives out in the desert?”

“ _Not_ explosives, I told you. Just … stuff to set on fire.” Keith narrows his eyes at him, and Shiro makes a mental note to keep an eye out for the budding arsonist in their midst.


	4. keith is sad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: Keith listening to Shiro's captain logs.

Shiro still hasn’t been found. 

It’s only been @%$ days, Keith reminds the wrenching hole in his chest, but it still hurts. The others are similarly tense, though they haven’t been holing themselves up in Shiro’s room or avoiding every communal meal. Keith knows, because he hears the footsteps outside and the clink of plates being set aside for him.

(“I know you’re in there, Keith,” they say again and again, “You haven’t eaten for &#% days.”)

He doesn’t know how many days it’s been.

\-----

It helps to loop the recordings he has of Shiro on his tablet. There are some from the Garrison, of Shiro describing the constellations above them, narrating his flights with all the aplomb of a sports commentator, pretending to introduce their desert shack to prospective buyers.

Keith muffles a sad snort in his palm. He knows every second of these recordings; they’d been part of what kept him sane back before Shiro’s return to Earth.

He has newer videos, too, taken when Shiro was snoozing beside him, or when he’d just woken, hair a bird’s-nest on his head. Keith curls up under his blankets, staring at Shiro’s embarrassed face.

\-----

The first time Keith steps outside, his legs take him downstairs and directly to the Lion’s bunkers. He watches in almost-regret as Black opens its maw to let him in.

_Thanks, Black._

Shiro’s not sat at the helm, but the Lion wakes with a quiet purr anyway, displays shifting before him as he tries to settle in the seat.

_[View recordings?]_

Cursing under his breath at how responsive Black is to his needs, Keith selects the prompt, hugging his knees to his chest as files upon files of logs appear before him. He doesn’t recognise the alien dating system, but he’s right in assuming that the first is the earliest. 

_[Hello, it’s – uh – the Black Paladin, Shiro, here.]_

Shiro looks bright and hopeful on the screen, reporting in as though he’s never recorded a log before. Keith hasn’t seen the Kerberos ones (locked up in the Garrison), but whenever Shiro had helped him on a flight sim, he’d been clear and confident in his recordings. Keith follows the shape of his moving mouth with blurry eyes.

The recording doesn’t include the chaos outside, none of Lance’s shrieks, Keith’s grumbling. It’s almost peaceful, listening Shiro’s commanding voice. Keith rests his tired, tired head on his knees. 

_[… currently on the way to Balmera X – 95 – Vox.]_

_[… responding to a distress signal – Lance! What are you doing?]_

There are hours more logs than his own videos. Keith has half a mind to fall asleep, Shiro’s occasional shouts doing little to startle him. Maybe Black will finally yield some answers, the longer he stays in here.

\-----

No one stumbles upon his hiding spot for an entire day. 


	5. keith gets a cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> somegoodsheith asked:  
> Keith finding a space-cat and begs Shiro to keep it? :>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay kitties

The intruder is small enough to bypass the ship’s cameras, sneaking on unnoticed until Keith spots the violently blue splotch on his Lion’s armour. It wriggles a little under his curious gaze. Confused and slightly concerned, Keith clambers up Red’s sharp angles until the discolouring reveals itself to be a small, furred creature.

“Mrow!”

_Holy shit._ It’s the cutest thing he’s ever seen, bar Steve the desert cat. He reaches out with his gloved hands, darting forward to pluck the creature off its perch and leaping back down onto safer ground. The struggling animal is covered in vibrant tufts of blur fur, face defined by its two triangular ears. Keith does a quick count – six legs. Well, it’s close enough to an Earth cat.

Clutching his new discovery to his chest, he rushes to Shiro’s room, where he knows the man will be stripping out of his armour.

“Shiro! Shiro, look what I found.”

Shiro drops his cuirass in shock. “Oh. Hey, Keith – uh, what is that?”

“I found it hitchhiking on my Lion.” He holds the space cat aloft, ignoring the way it’s gnawing at his hand. “Look, it looks like a cat.”

Shiro doesn’t look very reassured. “Well, uh, as long as it’s not poisonous or otherwise dangerous. Don’t think I haven’t forgotten your scorpion collection.”

Keith blames his past naiveté for the sizeable collection of scorpions he’d amassed. Shiro shivers to this very day, but Keith only looks back in fond remembrance. Jerry and his friends were a feisty bunch.

The animal in his arms makes a mewling noise. “Of course it’s not, don’t worry.”

“How do you know that?” Shiro keeps a wary distance as he finishes stripping out of his armour, promising to take Keith and his new pet to find Coran. “Let’s get it checked out, at least.”

Keith coos at the wriggling blue fluffball, pulling back when it bares sharp fangs. “Don’t worry sweetie, we’re not gonna hurt you.”

\-----

To Shiro’s dismay, the animal is quickly deemed safe by a smiling Coran.

“A xtecal mooss! Did you know, their shed fur quickly disintegrates into dust? And they can be a little violent, but nothing dangerous.”

Keith smiles.

“A moose? That’s not a –” 

“Of course it is,” Coran interrupts, and Shiro decides to shut up.

“That’s a good name,” Keith hums from beside them. “Moose.” Shiro watches Coran gawp in visible surprise as Keith bends over his new pet, cooing. “Do you like that, Moosey-boy?”

Moose snaps at his nose.

\-----

The rest of the crew grow quickly accustomed to the new … _mooss_ in their midst, except for maybe Allura, who keeps a watchful eye whenever Moose and the mice are in the same room. Shiro quietly agrees. So far, Moose has been nothing but a nuisance, curling up in Keith’s lap and purring up a storm whenever Shiro has his eyes on the same spot. Or when he leans over on the couch to show Keith something on his tablet and Moose bats at his chin with a furred limb.

“Keith,” Shiro sighs after too many frustrating days, “Can you control your mooss? I swear he’s out to get me.”

Keith frowns at him. “Moose is an angel. He’d never hurt a fly.”

“You said that about your scorpions, too.”

“Yeah, well,” Keith waves a careless hand, “They just didn’t like you.”

Moose makes a hostile face at him from his warm spot in Keith’s lap. “Well, can you tell Moose that I don’t mean him any harm? I don’t know why he’s out to get me.”

Keith tickles Moose’s ears and the animal rolls over in his lap. “Okay.” He continues to nonchalantly pet the blue fur.

“Okay?” Shiro stares expectantly.

“Uhuh. He knows. Here, try holding him.”

Moose’s yellow eyes stare spitefully at him, and Shiro swallows down a nervous sound. Surprisingly, the animal settles quietly in his arms, and Shiro almost feels confident enough to start liking the creature. And then the moment Keith turns away, Moose digs sharp fangs into his prosthetic and vaults himself back onto Keith’s bed. 

Shiro can only stare in dismay.


	6. doritos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> anonymous asked:  
> Keith feeding doritos to Shiro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :/

“Like what you see?” Shiro waggled his eyebrows, sprawled out on Keith’s bed, both tiddies unashamedly out. 

“Of course I do, DORITOS®-boy.” Keith tries to move his eyebrows, but they’re not as luscious as Shiro’s.

Shiro splutters. “What did you just call me?”

He yelps when Keith thwacks him about the ears. “Are you deaf? I said DORITOS®-boy!”

“W-Why?” Shiro asks, almost afraid to hear the answer.

“Because you muscle bod shaped like DORITOS®,” Keith replies, stroking a finger along Shiro’s tiddy.

Shiro muffles a groan into his fist. “All this talking about DORITOS® has me hungry for lunch. And it’s only five in the morning.”

To his disbelief, Keith strikes an impressive pose. “Have no fear! Your saviour is here!” And with a fluidity usually reserved for the battlefield, he unclasps his fanny packs to reveal a wondrous crinkling. “AhA! DORITOS®!”

Shiro swoons. As Keith tears open the first bag, he can’t help but utter a groan of intense ecstasy. “Shower me in orange dust!”

“Your wish is my command, sir.” And then Keith empties the entire bag onto Shiro’s head.


	7. keith is sad but now in season 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1o3o1 asked:  
> Keith listening to Kuron's logs from The Journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more logs? more logs.

The universe delivers Shiro back to them in a tiny Galra battleship. The months past have left their mark on him, but Keith doesn’t care. He brushes greasy hair aside to peer into Shiro’s delirious eyes, and would’ve kissed him right there and then if the man didn’t need immediate medical attention.

Shiro looks tired and empty in the cryopod, Keith thinks, head tucked against his shoulder and long hair falling to cover half his face. But Coran promises he’ll be out in a day. Sighing, Keith takes another look at Shiro’s unmoving form and exits the room.

He’ll return, later.

\-----

The familiar corridors of the castle feel a little less empty when he knows Shiro’s returned, but Keith doesn’t know where he’s headed until he finds himself in the main lab, where Pidge is busy dismantling the Galra ship. It lies in tiny fragments in front of her, and what looks like the tail end of the ship is currently plugged in to her computer.

“Hey, Pidge –” She looks up, but Keith is staring slack-jawed past her. “I-Is that Shiro’s voice?”

“Hm? Oh, uh.” She fumbles to switch the speakers off. What she’d heard had been more heart-wrenching than helpful, and if the crazed look on Keith’s face is any indication, it’s best not to rile him up even further.

“It’s just the ship log; there’s not much on there.”

“Really?” Keith takes another step closer, frowning at the setup before them. “What if there’s clues? Helpful information? Give me a copy. I need to know what he’s been through!”

“Uhh –” Pidge doesn’t normally let herself be pushed around, but when Keith’s voice breaks into a shout, she reluctantly thumbs to the series of recordings. “Here. I can copy them to your tablet. And there’s honestly nothing really –”

“Thanks.” Keith’s curt voice shuts her up. She watches, dismayed, as he sprints back out, clutching the tablet like a lifeline.

\-----

There are seven recordings on his hard drive. Seven for … seven days, it seems. But Shiro’s been gone for far longer than that … Shaking his head, Keith presses play.

He’d thought for a moment about where to go before finally deciding on the privacy of his bedroom. He doesn’t want to look at Shiro until the man stops resembling a broken puppet in suspended animation.

_[Pilot log. I am one day out of Thayserix. I've…]_

Thayserix. Keith blinks. They’d been there, just recently, and Shiro’s depressed tone is further indication.

_[… lost visual and radar contact to Voltron.]_

The small ship wouldn’t have had a very powerful radar. Keith wonders if Shiro had been floating, lost, in space. He presses his cheek against the pillow, focusing on the broken words reverberating in his ears.

_[I am four days out from Thayserix. No food or ...]_

Shiro sounds bitterly tired, a sensation echoing similarly in Keith’s core. He hopes there’s an IV feeding nutrients into his body right now.

_[… No signs of anyone.]_

Keith’s throat tightens. Unbidden, he sees a vast desert wasteland and a single, lonely spot in the distance, the only proof of civilisation. At least Shiro wasn’t alone for long. Just –

_[… seven days out.]_

Seven days too many, seven days too late sevendaystoo– 

At least he’s back, Keith thinks. At least he’s safe, and whole, and. Keith wipes away a sniffle. He has to be presentable for when Shiro finally wakes.


	8. shiro finds a kotatsu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> livewiregoth said: Neko Keith(or Keith having a kitty mode) & Shiro putting together a kotatsu for them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is like 80% kotatsu shopping? well i tried

The kotatsu is the first thing Shiro spots when Pidge and Lance drag them all to the Earth store. It sits there innocently, a homage to his childhood that his teammates ignore. Well, except for Keith, who’s always observant.

“What are you looking at?” Keith peers from beside him.

“Oh, nothing. Just something from Japan.”

“Really?”

In the past, Keith was a ball of envious excitement whenever he brought up his years in Japan. He’d never left the desert shack he grew up in, so Shiro can understand. His purple ears are twitching in curiosity.

“A _kotatsu_ ,” he explains. “It’s a kind of heated low table, with a blanket.” He points at said piece of furniture, its futon patterned with bright pink spots. The fabric looks pristine and soft to the touch, and Shiro finds himself wondering if he can squeeze the table into his bedroom.

Well, the common room also works. 

“Heated?” Keith takes a step closer to the display.

“Yeah. There’s a heating element under the table, so it’s great for winter.” To be fair, the ship does sometimes get a little chilly, though maybe not enough to warrant an entire kotatsu.

“Heating element?” Keith parrots, darting a glance at the idling alien storekeeper before tentatively touching the futon. He turns to Shiro, expectant. “We should buy it.”

_Huh?_

“Huh?” Shiro stares at him. “Buy with what? And I was just glancing at it.” 

“Okay.” Keith gazes stubbornly at him. “Then what if _I_ want to buy it?” And before Shiro can stop him, he’s off to find the storekeeper and, apparently, interrogate a price out of him.

\-----

They return to the castle one kotatsu richer, after Keith somehow negotiated his way into exchanging a ‘real piece of recent Earth tech’ and what looked suspiciously like Shiro’s old gloves. Shiro narrows his eyes as Keith sheathes his dagger with a careless sound.

“I’m sure that costs a lot more than …”

Keith shrugs.

Despite whatever dubious haggling methods Keith had used, the kotatsu lights a warmth in Shiro’s chest when he sees it sitting in the common room. 

“Like it?” Keith asks smugly.

“Yes... Thank you, Keith.” _Even if I still feel guilty._

He reaches an arm out to turn the kotatsu on, delighted at the heat that soon radiates out from underneath the table.

\-----

The others stare at the two of them tucked under the kotatsu.

“What is that?”

Slumped (asleep?) on the tabletop, Keith completely ignores Lance. “It’s a heated table,” Shiro explains. “Didn’t you see us buy it back at the shop?”

Lance shrugs. He looks curious, like he wants to join them in the almost-intimate huddle beneath the table, but they’ve not exactly left any space.

“We can take turns using it,” Shiro assures. 

Shiro’s assurance soon falls flat. As it turns out, Keith develops an obsessive interest, using every moment he can find to curl up under the warm futon.

“Keith!” Shiro admonishes, for the nth time, “You can’t sleep under there – you’ll catch a cold.”

Keith snoozes on, ears disappearing under the table as he curls up out of Shiro’s sight.

“Keith – I swear to god.”


	9. you! i wanna take you to a space mall, i wanna take you to a space mall, i wanna take you to a space mall, space mall, space mall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> somegoodsheith asked: Ok I've got one. The team finds another Space Mall and Shiro takes Keith to a small date before they gotta go save the universe again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry about the title

The planet of Riselkir is relatively peaceful and Galra-free, but that’s not entirely the reason why they come to a stop just above its atmosphere.

“There’s another shopping mall! Can you guys see it?” Allura points at an unidentified splotch on the blown-up display of Riselkir. Keith squints. 

Regardless of whether there’s a mall or not, the team quickly erupts into chaotic hubbub.

“We have to go!” Hunk exclaims. “Think about the food –”

Pidge yelps. “Videogames! We need to – _Lance_!”

Lance is practising what looks like his usual flirting routine and Keith looks away. 

Shiro nudges him. “You want to go check the mall out?”

“Sure.” The prospect isn’t as exciting to Keith as it is to everyone else, but he agrees to hop into one of the pods when Shiro brightens up at the prospect of a break. In fact, Coran is the only who puts up the slightest protest, which soon fades into silent exasperation as Allura gleefully leads the way down to the hangers.

“I’ll stay and watch the ship,” he sighs.

\-----

They leave their shuttles in the sprawling parking lot, each clutching a cut of the reward money they’ve amassed over the past missions. That’s the last Keith sees of anyone; Pidge, Hunk, Lance, and Allura sprint to the far corners of the mall, leaving him and Shiro alone to gape at the massive scale of the building they’re in.

It’s a larger replica of the last mall, elevators and escalators leading to distant shops and a diverse crowd of aliens milling around. 

“Your mouth is open.” Shiro reaches a hand over to gently touch his jaw, and Keith clicks his teeth shut with a snap.

“No it’s not.”

“Well, where do you want to go first?” Shiro chuckles at the bewildered look in his eyes. Huffing, Keith tugs them to the nearest store. 

It turns out to be a hairdresser’s, judging by the alien currently getting xir … hair-tentacles trimmed. Keith winces.

“Are you finally agreeing to a haircut, then?” Shiro fingers the longest strands of his hair, and he stiffens.

“No!” Keith’s gotten used to the mullet, now long enough to tie back. And if anything, having short hair means enduring that scratchy, irritating period where his hair grows out to itch against his nape.

Shiro laughs, retracting his hand. “Okay, okay.”

They move onto the next store, then the next, then the next, until Keith wonders if it might be more productive to return to the ship. Shiro must’ve sensed his hesitation, because a warm palm reaches to squeeze his hand.

Just as the mall’s starting to look too daunting and expansive, Shiro nods at a nearby storefront. “Oh, hey – look at that café.”

Keith takes in the sight of dainty tables, neat chairs, and the holo-display scrolling through videos of food and drink. “Uhuh?”

“Do you want to go in and grab something?” Shiro smiles again and harried, Keith nods. 

“S-Sure.” Something to eat _would_ be nice, and combined with Shiro’s hopeful grin … Keith follows him inside, nervous.

The alien display of food doesn’t make him any less nervous. Sighing, Keith chooses the least offensive looking delicacy (a slice of what looks exactly like a regular chocolate cake), while frowning at Shiro’s eclectic order. 

“What kind of wrap is that?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then what’s in the drink?”

Shiro points at the receipt. It’s written in an unrecognisable alphabet. “That, apparently.”

“Shiro, what if you get food poisoning?”

“Well, I hope that doesn’t happen.”

\-----

Shiro doesn’t get food poisoning. In fact, the drink (some kind of fruity tea) is so apparently delicious that Keith itches to take a sip.

“Are you sure? What if it’s poisonous?” Shiro takes a snide swallow.

“Then you should stop drinking it!”

“Hm.”

Keith aims a kick under the table. “Shiro! Let me try some.”

“Finish your cake first.”

Keith glares at the half-eaten slice of cake on his plate. Trust Shiro to be able to choose the best from the menu. The wrap had tasted like some kind of chicken-pork hybrid covered in sour-sweet dressing (Keith knows, because he’d taken a few bites out of it), but his cake …

Keith pokes at it miserably. “It tastes like straw.”

“Straw is fibre. Healthy.” Shiro smirks at him over the rim of his glass.

“Shi-ro.”

\-----

Thankfully, no one is subjected to the rest of the straw-cake, and Shiro offers the last watery sip of his drink to rid Keith’s mouth of the taste.

“Dessert, then?”

“ _Proper_ dessert.”


	10. shiro suffers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> somegoodsheith asked: Shiro just woke up from a nightmare and he finds himself going to Keith for comfort. How does Keith help?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is so short jesus christ

Keith is woken by a guttural shout and a sudden lashing pain to his cheek. Startled, he tips backwards out of bed, ears ringing but still able to hear Shiro’s pained groans and cut-off yells. He hasn’t had a nightmare like this in years, but just as the scar on his nose is still there, the Galra have yet to fully disappear from his mind.

“Shiro!” Keith scrambles upright, leaning on the edge of the bed to scan his thrashing figure. By the sliver of moonlight fanning over him, he can see his tortured, twisted expression, a tense fist, the stump of his other arm. They exchanged his weaponised hand for a human prosthetic, and Keith no longer has to worry about third-degree burns when he reaches out to pin down Shiro’s good arm, other hand stroking the edge of a jaw.

“Shiro, _Takashi_ – wake up! Takashi, _wake up_ , you’re dreaming.”

Shiro moans under him, struggling against Keith’s tight grip. Desperate, Keith tries again, then again, palms wiping away the rivulets of sweat gathering on Shiro’s skin and smoothing over the planes of his face until he jolts awake with a cry, eyes darting about in a panic.

“Takashi, _Takashi_ , it’s me, Keith. You’re safe now – we’re in our bedroom, in our apartment, it’s … 2am you can see the moon outside, right?”

“Y-Yeah.” Shiro is still tense under his fingertips, stiffly turning his head to stare outside.

“We’re on Earth. Not in space.”

“Ri-Right. Right.”

“Breathe for me, okay?”

And ignoring the pounding in his head, Shiro breathes.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading <3  
> if you want to support me, feel free to click the button on my tumblr's sidebar  
> (swummeng-geys.tumblr.com)


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